Mass Effect:Reverence
by T.Godz
Summary: Palius a young human triplet, is one third of a cerberus experiment to create super soldiers to benefit humanity. However Palius' good will leads him to leave the facility with unlikely allies. Can he trust his siblings who he leaves behind? OC in ME world
1. Chapter 1

2184 Human AD(One year after events at the Citadel), Cerberus facility in the Traverse.

"Here" a trickle of rich red blood ran down Palius' arm as his skin rippled from the removal of the needle gun. "This should fix the mess those Cerberus goons have made"

"Hey Armind?"

"Yea"

"Why do you work for Cerberus? My brother says that they don't exactly like aliens." Armind's shoulders dropped slightly as he let out a drawn out breath.

"Well being a genius gave Cerberus enough reason to kidnap me, plus the free labour probably knocks a bit off their budget" Behind the masquerade of Armind's cheerful mood Palius noticed Armind stare up into the blank white ceiling for several seconds, his body frozen like a wax model, which was strange as Armind was usually bouncing from one task to another. A usual trait of a Salarian due to their short lifespan or the fear of being caught slacking by Cerberus motivated him.

"Don't worry, I'll get you out of here some day." Palius knew that however unlikely it may seem, it was in his human manner to inject reassurance into others. Surprisingly Armind responded almost immediately. "Well I hope it's soon..." He looked at Palius with large retired eyes and slightly wrinkled horns, both signs of ageing for a Salarian. A rung out noise abruptly filled Armind's surgery come laboratory; Palius hardly heard its muffled efforts to alert its owner. Armind however was frantically trying to find it in amongst his equipment and work, it was like he had heard the results of the galactilot and was trying to find his ticket.

"The assessment team wants to see you" Armind finally said once calmed from the lack of noise being emitted from his pager.

Palius groggily got up off the operating table. He always felt like shit after Cerberus mucked about with his biotic 'enhancers' although he considered them glorified red sand injectors, guaranteed to make you forget everything and feel shit in the morning. They were designed to inject the chemical that stimulated the manipulation of dark energies along with 3 state of the art L4vS2 biotic amplifiers, however the side effects of the drug were never able to be fully neutralised and any excess red sand would be ejected out of the nasal cavity. Plus he had to wear the gear of the applicator which consisted of two tubes, one ran over each of his shoulders at about the height of the ear lobe which entered his body either side in his upper chest area and ran down into his back just below his shoulder blade to the red sand storage container, situated on the outside of his lower back which took replaceable cartridges of Red Sand. Palius was glad to get out of the seemingly small white room which would always look larger once he'd stood up. He only liked going there to talk to Armind, not when he was lying on the operating table. "See ya" Palius said his black hair running over his forearm while rubbing his eyes. He was thinking of how he respected Armind's upbeat attitude despite his situation when he walked into the corner of the door way on his way out.

"Later" Armind replied in his usual upbeat tone whilst smirking with a shaking head.

Palius just seemed oblivious and powered on to his appointment.


	2. Chapter 2

Mass Effect : Chapter Two

Dr. Halwood hated these check-ups from the Illusive Man once every two to three weeks; it felt like his mother ringing him at the weekend after he'd just moved out for the first time. Not to mention it was the Illusive Man, everyone for their own reason feared the Illusive Man. He would always use the same holo-program to speak, that ominous grey shadow with piercing glowing eyes that would rarely move from their target.

Dr. Halwood walked up to the doors which showed his reflection, despite being 43 years old he still obtained the appearance of a 20 or so year old due to modern healthcare and facial surgery, his hair was still the ginger short cut he had tidied the same morning. The doors slid apart upon his approach splitting his image in two and revealing an empty room. The Illusive Man always did this to him always making him wait even for the smallest amount of time before opening the communication stream. folded his arms behind his back and straightened his body puffing out his chest like an animal defending its territory.

The infamous image of the Illusive Man sprouted from the ground in front of him sitting in a chair with a class of what could only be assumed to be an alcoholic beverage.

"Dr. Halwood." The Illusive Man said, it was his usual demeaning greeting.

"Sir, I have your requested reports." Halwood replied in a calm manner. The Illusive Man didn't bother replying instead he lifted glass and took a small sip of his drink.

"I'm pleased to tell you that all three subjects have had positive results from receiving enhanced features in augmented into their bodies. Subject one has received gene therapy; we spliced a strand of DNA which codes for a certain gene rather the same way as Insulin and other drugs are produced using bacteria. In this case however we have taken the properties from Krogan which give them their unique combat edge; slightly rougher skin, multiple organs and Krogan blood rage. It has far exceeded our expectations. Subject two was the hardest subject to alter, the use of red sand gives him a distinct disadvantage once used, we have managed to delay the negative effects by forcing his internal systems to release adrenaline upon use of red sand injections. With the use of his enhancers he can manipulate mass effect fields generating forces of up to 3000 Newtons." felt voice slight bend in pitch as his enthusiasm got the better of him; the Illusive Man simply stared at him obviously not feeling the same way. Dr. Halwood quickly composed himself. "And subject three has spent his life being raised with the upmost attention in increasing his academic potential, going for hours in simulators, testing programmes his reflexes are remarkable. He also has an outstanding knowledge in the use of tech mines while being to throw them with as much accuracy if not better than an Omni-tool can launch them.

"So my years of waiting are finally over?" the Illusive Man always kept the same expression in his face and voice.

"As far as how much we can better their talents yes..." Dr. Halwood didn't like to have to extend his sentences with bad news and he could tell that the Illusive Man could see it coming "but they are individuals who each have their own personal beliefs and values. Shaping them to see our perspectives on the galaxy will possibly be the harder challenge."

"So you're telling me that they have all this power but they necessarily will not use it when the time comes?"

"It may seem that way yes; however there is also an advantage to the three subjects being triplets. They share a bond, a bond which will make them fight for each other, further than say three associates. It also shapes whether they will take orders if one or more of the siblings follow orders then the other will likely do so. And luckily for us two of them appear to follow orders with no questions."

"I would suggest you work on it Dr. Halwood. I expect an update soon." The Holo of the Illusive Man flickered away and the lights in the room came on stinging his eyes forcing him to squint. He had survived his calling from the Illusive Man once again despite the troubling news. He knew he would have to fix the attitude of subject two soon if this project was going to work.


	3. Chapter 3

Palius was on his way to see Armind when the sight of a Turian sitting in the waiting area for surgery caught his eye. Palius sat in the chair next to the Turian, he noticed that this Turian not only had fringes on the top of his head, but this Turian had two that came out of each of his cheekbones.

"What brings you here?" Palius asked with an innocent expression on his face.

"I'm here to remove my side fringes." The Turian replied.

"But why? They're so unique." Palius was trying his best to make this Turian reconsider having surgery here. He didn't know how Cerberus had got him to have surgery here but they would not do it right because he wasn't a human.

"Do you know what it's like?" Palius didn't know what to say but before he could say anything the Turian continued "Do you know what it's like to been seen as someone else's legacy! They look at me and all they see is that traitor's face. I was even taken out of training for the military and the spectres." The Turian's muscles eased up from being tense. "I just want to control my own..." The Turian seemed to stumble in his sentence.

Palius put his hand on the shoulder of the Turian's shoulder "destiny? The name's Palius it's Turian for..." As Palius was going to finish sentence a loud sound filled the air in the hallway, the loud drumming rang in his ears not because of its volume but because of what it resembled it sounded like a gunshot. Palius sprang out of his seat and ran towards the origin of the sound his movements seemed to slow down in his head as he knew this was the way to Armind's surgery.

He approached the surgery and his eyes gazed upon two Cerberus operatives standing in the surgery, one with his gun drawn. The sound of his footsteps alerted one of the operatives to his arrival. As the operative turned around it revealed the lifeless body of Armind behind them.

"W...What the hell!" Palius face screwed up in a mix of emotions.

"He wouldn't co-operate, we had to."

"You bastards!" Palius' teeth grinded as he clapped his hands together. A shot of red dust stained the collar of the shirt he was wearing. The two operative's raised their arms to try and get Palius in their sights but a force resembling that of two freight carriers had already crushed their heads together. Fragments of their former being hit Palius in the face. Palius couldn't move his body at all, the more he looked at the remains on the floor the worse it became.

"It's an amazing power isn't it?" a voice slithered from behind Palius to the extent that it made him want to cringe. He turned around to see a ginger haired man with an unerring face look at him from behind opaque glasses, his eyes obscured by the light reflecting off them. "To kill those lesser than you with the simple movement of the wrist." He flicked his wrist knocking a pot filled with Armind's possessions onto floor spilling its contents on the floor.

Palius composed himself and thought it would be beneficial to go along with this guy. "Indeed it is." He said.

"You're an amazing liar." The voice emanated from a young man of who shared the same facial features as Palius who stepped out from behind the ginger man. It was Edward, Palius' brother. His appearance always astonished Palius. That smart silver neck long hair with a grey suit, he was easily the best looking of three of them, only because he didn't undergo any major surgery. His eyes were an unnatural grey colour due to his long exposure to computer monitors and the like. His face covered with a joking smirk mocking Palius with his previous statement.

"Edward, who is this man?" Palius trusted Edward more than Andrew but he was still in shock that he would be a cohort of this man.

"This is . He is project lead on the three of us. I'm surprised you don't know that. Come with us Pal or we will remove you by force." Palius noticed how the two of them seemed to care so little about the lives of the two operatives that he had expended moments earlier. While his mind was calculating a response the two of them pulled out stun batons with an electric charge on the point of each.

Palius' lips wrinkled as they started to move when he was stopped by a sudden change in the demeanour of . His face wrinkled and his eyes opened wide, he fell to the floor in a violent spasm. Palius saw that Edward's stun stick was raised to where had been standing.

"Get going you need to get out of here, I'll cover you using this computer." Edward easily accessing Armind's computer bypassing any security it had. "Just make sure you see Andrew before you go."

"What about you?"

"Just go, I'll mop up here."

Palius ran back down the ever too familiar corridor when he saw the same Turian from earlier fighting off Cerberus surgeons. Palius grasped the nearest IV drip stand and cracked it against the head of one of the Surgeons. The others stumbled and fled with gaunt expressions on their faces.

"What's your name?" Palius asked with a stern tone.

"Raine Arterius." The Turian's mandibles dropped down and slightly opened in confusion.

"Come on we're leaving." Palius grabbed Raine's wrist as he ran down the corridor. After time passed following Edward's directions over the intercom he found himself in the lower quarters of the facility. He asked Raine to wait behind as he entered a strange room. Palius was immediately horrified at what he saw. It was a room with two Krogan strapped into chairs with all sorts of wires going into them. Andrew was standing over one of them punching it in the face repeatedly.

"What the fuck are you doing!" Palius couldn't help but scream, what he was seeing was barbaric.

"I've been infused with the DNA of this species." He continued to punch it in the face, an orange substance covering his hands. "I should be thankful for they make me strong, stronger than any other person. But it makes me think." He walked over to a rag and used it to wipe his knuckles. "All my life I've been told that humanity deserves the right to rule the other races, but what am I really? Doing this..." He pulled out a shotgun and held it up to the Krogans head with one arm. "Reminds me I'm... Human." He pulled the trigger as he finished sending organic debris over the walls behind the Krogan.

Palius couldn't believe what he had witnessed. He always knew that Andrew bought all the Cerberus Humanity crap, but this. Palius clenched his fists and punched them in the direction of Andrew expelling more powder from his nose. Andrew's expression became very feral; his eyes became bloodshot with orange just before the wave hit him. It lifted him off the floor and forced his body into the wall behind him cracking it and pressing Andrew's outline into it. The unconscious Andrew remained sitting in the dent in the wall.

Palius rushed over to the second Krogan who seemed to be alive and relatively unharmed physically however he seemed mentally shaken. Raine burst in after he'd heard the loud noises; he stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of the room. "Take the shotgun" Palius said. Raine nodded grabbed the shotgun and took point. Palius threw the Krogan's arm over his shoulder as he tried to support his weight. "We're leaving."


	4. Chapter 4

(_Earlier that day_)

Dr. Halwood's heart pounded one beat harder when the doors of his office slid open, it was a visit he had been expecting but the abrasive sound of doors would easily pierce his ears if we weren't paying attention.

"You asked to see me?"

"Yes take a seat Edward." Dr. Halwood took a moment and admired how well presented Edward always looked. It gave him an air of arrogance which made bargaining with him somewhat difficult. "It concerns your brother."

"Which one?" Dr. Halwood eyed Edward's face; it came across as rigid and emotionless. This was his normal expression when he knew what was coming.

"Palius." He was gathering the thought capacity to explain the problem when he figured it would be easier for Edward to deduce it on his own, that way he would likely think of a solution to the problem. Dr. Halwood remained silent to coax Edward into speaking.

Edward ran his finger along the corner of the expensive wooden drawer in the office. "Palius isn't co-operating with your orders is he. You want to get rid of him but in a way that doesn't make it look like you were behind it, otherwise the Illusive Man will see his time and money wasted. Now I know it's the Illusive Man because the security in this place is a joke. I can't let you kill Palius either because he's my brother so I think we should find a way to force him to escape, but I'll stay in contact with him so we can still use him to benefit Cerberus. Hopefully this way the Illusive Man should be more forgiving."

Dr. Halwood pushed his glasses back up the ridge of his nose with a smirk on the corner of his lips, Edward's eyes widened and his pupils constricted, he'd realised that he had been used the whole time.

"I expect nothing less from you Edward but make sure you get him to see Andrew before he leaves, they both need the motivation."

Edward spent the next few hours in Dr. Halwood's discussing their plan before Halwood picked up the phone to order the execution of the Salarian doctor and picking up a pair of stun batons.


	5. Chapter 5

Palius strained under the weight of the behemoth Krogan, its head was a whole head higher than him and his hump towered even higher. "Raine, can you take point?" The Turian looked back at him and nodded, Edward's voice flooded the corridors once more "There's a shuttle docked outside the west wing, I'm hacking into the network to try and detour some security."

They slowly navigated the winding corridors of the facility facing no opposition; the grey repetitive walls gave Palius a sense of déjà vu. It was as if they were going round in a circle that was until they came into west wing. Its walls were a bright white that it made the guard they had seen stand out like a piece of artwork in an empty gallery. Raine silently took the guard out with a melee of his shotgun. "Here take this." Raine tossed Palius the guard's pistol.

They eventually came to a large set of bulkhead doors; Palius could almost smell the change of air near them. It had been months since he had seen the outside of the facility as they only ever left when he and his brothers were sent on training missions. The very thought of leaving this prison and exploring the galaxy whetted his appetite for adventure. Then the door opened and he saw the small cargo shuttle being unloaded by two armed labourers who were being guarded by human mercenaries. The opening of the door alerted their attention but they did not shoot that was until a different voice boomed over the intercoms "Shoot them! Don't let them leave this station!" it was the voice of Dr. Halwood.

The mercenaries looked at each other hesitantly before opening fire on the three of them; Palius threw the Krogan behind cover while jumping behind opposite cover. He could hear Raine's voice through the gunfire "I can't get a shot in there's too many of them." Palius ran his hand down his chest creating a biotic barrier around himself, creating one barrier as composed as this was easy and didn't require a red sand injection but he knew what he was going to do next would be a different case.

He stood up in the open; the projectiles coming his way would whisper at him then come to a silent stop in his barrier and inanimately drop to the floor around him. He placed an out stretched hand forward, his palm facing the floor, in his mind he could see the entire area the mercenaries were standing on. He closed his eyes and mapped the entire area with a biotic field. Red sand escaped his nose while he raised his other hand into the air. I giant circle encompassing the mercenaries became distorted and they all raised up into the air, the floor beneath them rippled with a blue glow like that of a heat wave rising off a sun cooked surface. The mercenaries were shouting while they floated about in the field but it didn't change their circumstances. Palius picked up the Krogan once more while Raine walked over to the edge of the field and put his hand into it, he lost the feeling in it as it entered the lack of gravity on it causing a strange feeling. "Amazing." He muttered under his breath.

Palius could start to feel his senses slipping and his attitude change, the Red sand usage had started to kick in, "Get ready to run." he said. The field gave way and all the mercenaries came crashing to the floor, Raine ran ahead and started warming up the ship, his speed startled Palius it must have been twice that of his own. While Palius shambled up the ramp with the Krogan one of the mercenaries had got back to his feet and started shooting. Palius threw the Krogan through the airlock his barrier still absorbing damage, the man just held down the trigger expecting the barrier to give way. Instead Palius shot the man with his pistol four times enough to bypass his kinetic barriers and end his futile resistance. The other mercenaries were either unconscious or pretended to be so after seeing the fate of their associate.

Once they were all on the ship Palius could see Dr. Halwood appear at the door through a viewport with a roughed up Edward, his head bowed down making his hair obscure his face, his arms being held by two guards. Palius felt for him but there was nothing he could do.

With his head bowed and certain that his face could not be seen Edward smirked "And all with just one casualty."

As the craft took off and disappeared into the distance Halwood handed Edward a piece of paper, on it contained a profile of an Asari.

"I want you to get him to find her and bring her to us."

"She's just a missing agent; she must be of special value." Edward said abruptly.

"Yes, she has something the Illusive Man wants, if someone buys her and gets information of Cerberus out of her, well you can probably imagine. This is a generic bounty that the Illusive Man sent round earlier this week to all of Cerberus. If we can get her... we might just win him round."


End file.
